Back from Sunny Cancun!

We had a good time in Cancun. The weather was perfect, not too hot at all. Our resort was beautiful. The water was as blue as the pictures, and the sand was soft. We spent most of our time just lounging around on the beach. I of course had to be under an umbrella, we all know that I do not tan. Nic managed to get a little burnt, but it wasn't enough to dampen our fun.

We ventured out one day to the La Isla mall and did a little shopping. We never did go downtown because I hate dealing with people who are harassing me for their business. We also had an excursion to a zipline canopy tour. That was A LOT of fun. We went on 11 zip lines through the jungle and then took a one mile bike ride to a cenote where we zip lined into the water. Followed by another bike ride back and a lunch. Oddly enough the food we ate there was the best we had the whole trip. I wasn't pleased at all with our food at the resort.

I learned a few things besides a little spanish. I learned that I should bring my own ketchup next time. All anyone had was Salsa Ketchup and it was gross. I learned that my husband is very accident prone. He managed to get pretty banged up at the ocean and during the zip line tour. I learned that the Mexican security might be more strict than the US security. They took away some scissors I had that managed to get through the US security. I also learned that traveling sucks. All those plane rides wore me out.

All in all we had a wonderful time and it was nice to get away. But we did miss Belle a lot. Unfortunately we got back a sick kid. She looks pitiful. She congested, coughing and has a fever.

I've got an announcment!

Can you guess what it is?


This is how we told our parents last weekend. My mom figured it out within a few minutes, but I'm not sure Nic's parents would've ever figured it out. I think the quickest was my hair stylist, Cindy. I had no longer taken Belle's coat off before she was asking me if I was pregnant.

I've been feeling fine. My only symptoms are being utterly exhausted and horrible acne. With Belle my face was clear, but I guess I'm not so lucky with this one. =)

I guess I'll have to change the name of this blog, its no longer just Mandy and Belle. Any ideas?

Our Last Horrah!!

My wonderful husband decided to suprise me with a trip to Mexico next week. We leave on Sunday morning at 3am! Should be a relaxing time. He had tried to keep the destination a secret, but with 3 days to go he let it slip. We are going to Cancun, which was my guess all along.

Why is it our last horrah? Well see the above post. I'll be quiting Pulse sometime by fall and will be trying to freelance. I'm pretty sure this is going to be our last vacation in a LONG LONG time. I'll be spending my summer trying to learn to live on one income. =)

I'll be sure to post some pics of the warm weather when we get back.

Our crazy girl!

Here is a video of Belle making herself dizzy, her new favorite pastime.

Playdate with Michaela

Yesterday Belle had a playdate with Michaela. We haven't seen Kelli and Michaela since Thanksgiving. The girls have both gotten a lot bigger, and I'm jealous of Michaela's hair. Her hair is so long and thick, poor Belle still has thin scraggly hair. This was the first time that the girls actually played together, it was cute to see.

Cause she's cute!

Yeah, it's done, it's finally done!

It's hard to believe I've been working on my portfolio site since fall. I built the site myself (ha ha, I feel like Rhaya built most of it) using html, css and then integrated into WordPress, a blog site. For the longest time the portfolio has been giving me grief and I finally figured it out on Friday, thanks to the WordPress forums.

So check it out. It'll serve as my portfolio site as well as a place to post all my crafty projects and cool things I find.

I'm famous!

Ok so I'm not famous, but my bridesmaid dress from Sara's wedding is. =)

Nic and I went to the movies and saw 27 Dresses this weekend. It was a cute movie and to my suprise, my bridesmaid dress was one of the 27 dresses. In my defense the dress was one of the dresses that she picked out of her closet that "wasn't that bad". But some of the words used to describe it was "the color of vomit" and that she looked like a "sparkling mermaid" in it.

I think it was a great dress and the color was really pretty, not a typical bridesmaid dress at all. Well typical I guess in the fact that it can never be worn again, but pretty nonetheless.

Cool Mom Trick of the Day

I actually got this idea from my Parent's magazine. Belle is always wanting to sweep when ever she sees a mop or a swiffer. While it's nice that she wants to help, she's always whacking something with the long swiffer handle.

The answer is taking out 2 sections from the swiffer and making a perfectly size swiffer for Belle. Now she can actually sweep. Nice!

This ones for you Kelly!

My friend Kelly is going through post withdrawl so here is a pic overload.





This is what happens when you let daddy play with the toys.





Discovering the Bilibo




Sorry Nellie, this is the best picture I got of her with her tea set.

Just Postin Pics

I got my camera finally. We've been playing with it this weekend so I'm posting some pics. Don't expect greatness, I need to learn a lot.







This is how you'll find me most nights. =)

New Years Resolution

Nic and I's New Year Resolution was to start cutting out the junk. Partly to eat healthy, be a good example to Belle and save money. So we are starting with cookies, we'll not longer buy cookies.

Its Jan. 4th and my sweet tooth is already in overdrive. I've been scouring the cupboards and have so far found some chocolate chips and I dug way back and found a box of lemon pudding. Then in the frig I found a can of cinnamon rolls. I guess this is what I've come to, I can only imagine that I'll be looking through Belle's toys next hoping to find a stray cookie that she shoved somewhere. I even asked Nic if he wanted to go out for donuts tomorrow. I guess my thinking is that I'm not keeping donuts in the house and a donut here and there won't hurt. Ha Ha, we're doomed for failure. =)

I'm going to give it an honest effort. I had to run to Walmart today and I stayed out of those dreaded center aisles.

Belle's 2nd Christmas!!

I wondered how Belle would react to her 2nd Christmas compared to last year. Last year she didn't really get excited about much. She loved to play with the crumpled paper and not really the presents themselves. This year she loved the presents and not really the paper. While she'd uwrap the presents, we all got pretty bored with watching her. She'd rip a little piece off, bring it to you, go back for another and start over. My mom has the right idea and just bought a Santa bag with her name embroidered on it. After getting home late on Christmas Eve, Nic and I totally copped out and didn't wrap anything.

She must of been nice this year, cause she made out pretty well. We made our rounds through the parents houses over the weekend and collected her loot. She got a Little People Dollhouse, Pottery Barn Chalkboard, cardboard blocks, new books and dvds among a ton of other things.

Her favorite gift from Nic and I was certainly her play kitchen. It had a phone that made sounds and she'd just walk around talking on her phone and cooking. It was hilarious, she'd be babbling along, cooking on the stove and making hand motions. Do you think she watches us?

Are you wondering what I got for Christmas? Nic got me a really nice necklace from Julian & Co and I got him a Colts sweatshirt. I also decided to buy myself a Christmas present, a Nikon D40. My parents also decided to get one. And after seeing my parent's camera, Sara decided to get one. Now whats really not fair is that they both have their cameras and I have nothing. Hey, I wanted one first! I think I should finally have one tomorrow though. Gotta love UPS and the holidays.

These pictures were taken with my parents camera on Christmas morning.

Belle's bed head and playing with her new kitchen.



Loving on her new Cabbage Patch, Salma Alice. Who names these things?



A cute shot of her with her See N Say

The Freshours as Elves

Thanks to my friend Kim, we've been transformed into Elves. Check it out.

The Freshours as Simpsons

I was reminded of a site today where you could Simpsonize yourself. Here is what we'd look like as Simpsons. I just wish there was a ponytail option for me. I never wear my hair down anymore.

Snow Bunny - Part Two

We got another couple inches last night. I got some cute pics of Belle that I thought I'd post.

Our little snow bunny!

Well we received the first snow of the season. It wasn't much, just a couple inches. But it seemed like the perfect opportunity to introduce Belle to snow (again). Last year we took Belle out long enough to shoot a picture, but she cared less about actually paying attention to the snow.



Belle had a blast this year. She was running around, eating snow and not paying any attention to the cold. She would've stayed out as long as we'd let her. I've got a cute video of her running around in the snow, I'll try and post it later.

Holy Crap!!!! She peed on the potty!!!!

Nic got Belle ready for a bath and sat her on her potty just for fun and told her to "go potty", and guess what, she did. I'm just floored. She's never wanted to sit on it with a bare butt before.

I was downstairs on my laptop when Nic came out and said she had peed on the potty. I had to see it with my own eyes. Sure enough!!

I was gonna wait til she was 2, but she might be ready now.

Belle's Cousin is a . . . . .

Working at a hospital has it's perks. Check out Sara's blog for the sex of Belle's cousin.

Where's Waldo?

The suspect returned to the scene of the crime to find that her work was cleaned back up, but in no time it was back to it's original mess. Can you find her?

I've been robbed!!!

Suspect: 24lbs and 32in tall white female
Last seen: in the vicinity of the living room wearing pink footie pjs

Belle meets Belle

When we were in Ohio about a month ago, we went to Duck Duck Goose, a little children's boutique. They have tons of cute stuff and this visit just happen to be during their birthday celebration. They had Belle from Beauty and the Beast for the kids to meet. Belle was less than interested, but I thought it was neat that Belle got a picture taken with Belle.

I look like I'm striking some sort of model pose. I don't know what happened there.

Fun with the Macbook

Belle wasn't feeling good this morning and all she wanted to do was sit on my lap. Of course my laptop is pretty much attached to me, so it was on the couch with us. We had a little fun with the photo booth program.

Feeling crappy, but amused that she can see herself in the computer.


Look, I can see my hand moving


Giving "the look"


Now this is just weird

Do you think we should trust her on this thing?

Mom and Dad dug out a horse similar to this one and has kept it at their house. Belle LOVES it. My mom rode it, Sara and I rode it, now Belle is?

Well Nic found this horse at a garage sale to have at our house. Its a little different in that it has a frame that comes up around the horse and the springs are looser. The movement of the horse goes a lot farther.

Belle has a blast on it, but you really have to watch her. (ignore Nic in the background, for some reason I couldn't upload the file where I got rid of the sound)

Insurance sucks!

Would Universal Health Insurance be that bad? No, I don't think it is the answer, but I'm infuriated with the issue of health insurance.

Why am I so mad? Nic's employer whom I won't name (though a lot of you guys know) has changed their insurance offerings that will be effective in 09. Now the company is selling it to their employees as the next greatest thing, but I am not buying it. Sure its great if you don't get sick, but with kids it's just not practical.

Right now we've got the normal PPO (co-pays and deductibles). In 2009 we will be forced to go to a Consumer Based plan. Here is how it works. The company pays $300 for preventive care, then we pay a $400 individual / $800 family deductible. Once that is met, the company pays $1000 individual / $2000 family, and then we have ANOTHER deductible. THEN the insurance is 80/20. With a total out of pocket being $3500 individual / $7000. RIDICULOUS.

Why is it that a company making record profits can't take better care of their employees? Why aren't more people mad about this? Is it just me?

I have several other issues that I have with this company and their policies. But I guess in I could look at it another way, atleast we have insurance and atleast Nic has a job.

Its really coming down to companies not appreciating or valuing their employees. Its happening all to much. I've experienced it, Nic's experienced it and so has my dad. Sad but true and there is really nothing we can do about it.

We survived!

Well we did survive camping. We had a good time over all, but I'm not jumping up and down to go again any time soon. Belle really enjoyed the new surroundings. She found the dirt, sticks and rocks much more entertaining than any of the toys we brought.

The weather: It was cold, but not unbearable (except early mornings). Belle didn't seem to notice the weather at all. Her love for her hat and mittens didn't last long though, but she was usually bundled up with 2 or 3 layers of clothes. Early mornings were rough because Belle gets up between 5 & 6 and at that time its down right frigid.

The food: It was fun just sitting around by the fire eating those foods we usually only get when we go camping. Stuff like Pizza Pockets, Sausage & Potatoes, Chili dogs, & Apple Pies.

Feeding Belle was a different story. She would not eat. She usually likes to eat breakfast early so we brought waffles to make her. The only problem is that we forgot the toaster. Her other breakfast option was scrambled eggs, but she wouldn't eat them made in the microwave. And going outside, building a fire, just to cook an egg she probably wouldn't eat, wasn't an option. So what did we do? We fed her Teddy Grahams. Yes I know it wasn't the best idea, but it worked.

Belle's eating problems continued throughout the weekend. She refused her favorite, a grilled cheese sandwich, and anything else we offered her. She'd eat part of any baby food jar we'd offer her, but for the most part she stuck with drinking milk. This morning when we were packing up, Nic was cleaning out the cooler. We had stored a grilled cheese sandwich there.(we had intended on warming it up later). Nic sat it off to the side and went to do something else. Belle found it and started eating this ice cold sandwich. Gross!! Sometimes its hard to understand that girl.

The sleeping arrangments: We slept in Nic's parents pop-up instead of our tent. We slept 3 across on one side. For the most part Belle stayed parrellel with us. She was quite the nice cuddle buddy. It got pretty cold at night (despite the heater we had in the pop-up) so I'm sure she was cuddling up for warmth. The last night we decided to sleep with our heads towards the middle instead of towards the end of the pop-up in an effort to stay warm. It worked, but we woke up to a thud and a scream last night. Belle had scooted her pillow off the end of the bed and fell off. She calmed down with a quick hug and a paci and went back to sleep.

This was quite an experience, but it was fun. I didn't take many pictures because I didn't want to take my hands out of my pockets very often.

Here is a pic of one of Belle's new looks. We're seeing this one a lot.

We're going camping!

Yes, we're going camping in this cold weather. We like going when its cooler, but this will be the first time with Belle. While I enjoy camping and just lounging around the fire, eating and doing nothing, I'm afraid our time will be spent running after Belle and keeping her out of the fire.

I was a little worried that Belle wouldn't like being all bundled up. But we tried her hat and mittens on last night and she looooved it. She screamed when we tried to take them off of her.

I'm sure I'll have plenty of stories and pictures when we get back. Say a little prayer for us, that we make it through this weekend. Oh and pray that Nic and I get some sleep. We'll be sleeping with Belle in the pop-up along with Nic's parents. Sleeping with Belle is worse than sleeping with our dog, she knows nothing of personal space. =)

Deal or No Deal Tonight!

I'm going to try and go to Ohio early tonight so I can watch Deal or No Deal. The lady who has been cutting my hair for 7 years is on the show. Not as a contestant, but as one of the friends who stand off to the side. It'll be fun to watch someone that I know on a tv show.

So if you watch Deal or No Deal tonight, you can say "Hey, Mandy knows that girl." She's got short hair and is wearing a pink and black shirt, her name is Cindy.

Jump! Jump!

Belle learned two new tricks this weekend. One of which was jumping. It didn't take her long to get the hang of this one. Here's a video.



Her second trick is learning to blow her nose. Which comes in handy now that there seems to be a constant stream coming out of her nose.

Another trip to the zoo

We went to the zoo today with Kelli and Michaela. The weather was perfect, not too cold and certainly not hot. Belle warmed up a little better to the animals this time.

Thanks Kelli and Michaela, we had fun.

As you can see, the girls didn't cooperate well for these photos.

She ate meat!

Belle ate something new again! Granted what she ate wasn't the healthiest, but it was meat and she never eats meat. Nic and I were having sausage biscuits for dinner and I made some sausage links just to see if she'd eat it.

I sat her in her highchair with her sippy and threw a sausage link on her plate fully expecting it to be thrown back at me. Nope she gobbled it all up. Hmmm I wonder if it was just a freak event, cause she's never eaten another PB sandwich since that one time.

Waking for waffles

I'm really missing the days when Belle would sleep in til 7. Here recently she's been getting up in the 5 o'clock hour. I just can't figure it out, but I'm starting to wonder if she's getting up to eat waffles with daddy. Nic eats waffles every morning and when Belle is up she'll help him eat them. Not just your normal waffles either. Nic puts peanut butter along with syrup on his waffles, something I got him hooked on.

And most mornings after she's eaten with Nic, he'll put her back to bed. Which doesn't work with me at all.

A wonderful night of Cheeseburger in Paradise

Kelly and Jamey decided that they would come to Indy this weekend to go to the zoo and we were really excited when they asked if we'd meet them for dinner. We met at Cheeseburgers in Paradise and ate. It was a new restaurant for both of us and it was really good.

Belle must of felt that Jacey wasn't getting enough food because she kept feeding her. Jacey was a good sport and ate whatever it was that Belle kept putting in her mouth. After leaving a huge mess on the floor by our table, we made a run for it and headed to our house.

Once at the house Belle had a good time playing with the girls while we all caught up. We had a good time and it was nice to have someone visit us for a change.

Exploring the bug world

Nic and Belle did some exploring the other night before she went to bed. There seems to be an abundance of crickets in our yard, or maybe we can just see them now that our yard is brown and dead. Belle seemed to have no fear of the bugs until one grabbed hold of her finger, then she was done.

What does the cow say?

Why is it that the sunday school teachers can teach our daughter what a cow says in an hour and a half, but when we've been working on other sounds for months, she's never really picked it up.

On the way home from church Sunday Belle kept moooing. We decided to test her. There was a picture of a cow in her nursery rhyme book and we asked her what a cow said, mooo. There was a cow on a commercial, moo. She certainly knows what a cow says.